IDW comics sixth story arc
The untitled sixth story arc of IDW Comics' comic series spans Issues #15 and #16. In the story, a bookworm devours the books in Twilight Sparkle's library, causing characters from those books to appear in Ponyville. Summary Issue #15 At Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight Sparkle and Applejack notice strange cocoons have appeared in the apple trees. As she looks through her book for an answer, Twilight is horrified to find a portion of one of its pages has been eaten out. She rushes to the Golden Oak Library to check on the rest of her books and discovers that every book in the library is in a similar if not worse state of being half-eaten. As Twilight laments over the loss of her books, Pinkie Pie arrives to inform her and Applejack that cocoons like the ones at Sweet Apple Acres—which Pinkie has named "schmarfelpods"—are growing all over Ponyville. Among the pages of one of her books, Twilight discovers the culprit behind the literary massacre: a bookworm. In a blind rage, she attempts to zap the worm with her magic, but it's too fast for her and Spike to catch. Spike, remembering his and his friends' experiences involving a comic book, comes up with the idea of going into the book and stopping the worm on its home turf. Twilight assembles the rest of her friends at the library to discuss the plan: she, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash will go into the book to stop the worm, while Applejack, Spike, and Fluttershy stay in Ponyville to keep an eye on the cocoons. With that, Twilight uses her magic to transport herself and her friends into the book. In the book's fantasy world, Twilight and her friends briefly catch up to the bookworm, but it quickly escapes them. According to Twilight, they need to re-enact the book's story to repair the damage that the worm had done to it, and they can then follow the worm to the next book. She tells her friends to re-enact the stories exactly as they were originally written, but Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity take quite a few liberties in retelling the story. The friends succeed in repairing the story's pages, but it's left completely changed from how it originally was. Twilight concedes that one messed-up story is a small price to pay for stopping the worm and saving the library, and she uses her magic to bring herself and her friends into the next book. In the next book—a Daring Do novel—Twilight and friends are on the run from spear-wielding hamsters. Rainbow Dash is thrilled to be in a Daring Do story, but Daring Do herself is nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, back in Ponyville, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Spike watch as one of the cocoons hatches and Daring Do herself emerges. Applejack and Fluttershy surmise her being in Ponyville means their friends are in a Daring Do story, and they wonder what fictional characters will emerge from the cocoons next. Having been taken prisoner by the hamsters and with no Daring Do in sight, Rainbow Dash assumes the role of Daring Do and frees herself and her friends from captivity. They find the bookworm again, who now speaks and claims it's taken the library's stories for itself, and chase it into another book. With a bit of improvising, Rainbow Dash repairs the Daring Do story's pages, allowing Twilight and company to follow the worm into the next book. They enter the world of one of Rarity's favorite romance novels. One of its characters—a tall and handsome stallion—appears before Rarity and reveals himself as the bookworm, whose endless consumption of books has made it giant. The worm escapes yet again, leaving the ponies behind in a vanishing world; Pinkie's curiosity of the world deterioration causes one of her hooves to disappear. Just before Twilight and her friends are erased, they follow the worm through its escape route and end up in a world that's completely white. As Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie lash out at each other for their misfortunes, Twilight cries over the fact that her books are completely gone and that she and her friends are now trapped. Meanwhile, dozens of fictional characters—good and evil alike—have overrun Ponyville, overwhelming Applejack, Fluttershy, and Spike. As the evil characters plot to take over this new world, the now enormous bookworm devours all that's left of the library's books. Issue #16 In the empty book world, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity continue to bicker and blame each other for the situation they're in. When Twilight makes a comment about what her friends' imaginations have done to her beloved stories, she comes up with the idea of using their imaginations to create their own story and track down the bookworm. The friends exchange apologies for harsh words said and put their imaginations to work. The friends' imaginations lead them through a world of fantasy and wizardry created by Pinkie Pie, a grand space adventure created by Rainbow Dash, and a black and white film noir scene via Rarity. Their efforts draw the bookworm from its hibernation, and it begins devouring the stories they've created, forcing the ponies to go on the run. Meanwhile, the evil story characters outside continue their siege on Ponyville, terrorizing the ponies living there. The Cutie Mark Crusaders confront the queen leading them and tell her their sisters will defeat them with the Elements of Harmony. Enticed by this treasure, the evil queen takes Applejack and the others prisoner and ransack the library in search of the Elements. In an attempt to tell their friends in the book world what's going on, Applejack and Fluttershy write their own comic for them to find. In the book world, as Twilight and company flee from the giant bookworm, they stumble into the rest of their friends' comic; the images drawn in it inform them of what's happening in Ponyville. Armed with this knowledge, Twilight reasons with the bookworm, telling it that its consumption of stories is threatening their friends. The bookworm explains that it meant no harm to anyone and was only enjoying books through its consumption of them. Realizing what its actions are doing to others, the bookworm agrees to help fix the damage done; its magic combined with Twilight's frees them from the book world. Using its perfect memory of the books' stories, the bookworm repairs the books one by one, sending the fictional characters back to the stories they came from. With the library returned to normal, the ponies commend the bookworm for its heroic actions, and the bookworm thanks them for inspiring it to craft its own stories. Happy, the bookworm vanishes into a book. Quotes :Pinkie Pie: What do you think is inside, Applejack? Please say pod ponies. :Applejack: Nah, just some newfangled weed or something simple like that. I think. :Spike: I got it! If magic could pull us into a comic book by accident, why couldn't we use magic to go in on purpose? :Pinkie Pie: Fear me, evil queen of Trottingham! For I am Pinkie Hoof! And you cannot keep fair Raritunzel up in that pumpkin! :Daring Do: Tell the truth: are you working for Ahuizotl? :Applejack: Ah''whatzi? :'Daring Do': Don't lie! :'Applejack': I don't even know who, or 'what, that is! :'''Bookworm: What do clever ponies do when their stories are gone? How do you fix a blank page? :Pinkie Pie: Pssst! Did we bite the big one, or what? :Rainbow Dash: I don't think so, Pinkie. This place seems way too boring to be the great beyond. :Pinkie Pie: Behold—Mt. Worm! :Rainbow Dash: Seriously, we can just fly up there, right? :Twilight Sparkle: I thought you said you had it under control. :Rainbow Dash: Suit up, Twi! It's time to go moonwalking. :Daring Do: Time to face our foes and be victorious! :Fluttershy: What does Applejack say? :Spike: I know! I know! She'd say: "Those mangey varmints are here to ruin our rodeo! Yeehaw!" :Applejack: What in tarnation? I do not sound like that! :Twilight Sparkle: You can ruin my library, but you can't ruin my friends! de:Ein Wurm, sie zu ächten